The FBI[1] continued to tell judges that dossier writer Christopher Steele[2] wasn’t the source of a news article the bureau used to corroborate a wiretap application when in fact Mr. Steele[3] had publicly acknowledged he fed the anti-Trump[4] story.
This chronology is contained in four heavily censored Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) applications obtained by the conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch[5] under the Freedom of Information Act.
The documents also show the FBI[6] relied as evidence on mainstream media stories critical of the Donald Trump presidential campaign.
The warrants were submitted by the FBI[7] for surveillance on Trump[8] campaign volunteer Carter Page[9] from October 2016 to September 2017. The FBI[10] told surveillance court judges Mr. Page[11] was an illegal foreign agent of Russia. Mr. Page[12] has repeatedly denied this and has not been charged.
The applications are heavily redacted. The FBI[13]’s central piece of evidence in the unreacted parts is the dossier compiled by Mr. Steele[14], a former British spy hired by Fusion GPS with money from the Hillary Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee. In other words, the FBI[15] was relying on partisan opposition research to target Mr. Page[16] for a year of intrusive phone and electronic intercepts.
Mr. Steele[17]’s dossier made several charges against Mr. Page[18]. The paramount one is that, during a public-speaking trip to Moscow[19] in July 2016, he met with two U.S.-sanctioned Kremlin figures, Igor Sechin and Igor Divyekin. Mr. Steele[20] said Mr. Page[21] discussed sanctions relief for bribes.
SEE ALSO: Carter Page subject of ‘targeted recruitment’ by Russia, FBI documents reveal [22]
To bolster Mr. Steele[23], the FBI[24] presented to the judges as an independent source a Sept. 23, 2016 article by Michael Isikoff in Yahoo News. It reported the same supposed Sechin-Divyekin meetings.
The applications state, “[Steele[25]] told the FBI[26] that he/she only provided this information to the business associate [Fusion] and the FBI[27] …. The FBI[28] does not believe that [Steele[29]] directly provided this information to the press.”
But in fact, he did. Mr. Isikoff has acknowledged that his source was Mr. Steele[30]. And the FBI[31] by June 2017, the date of its final application, had a way to know this....
The Washington Times first reported on April 25 2017 that Mr. Steele[32] filed a declaration in a libel suit against him in London. He stated that